Indonesia president

A Great Loneliness

Man must treat the beasts of this land as his				edge of extinction. There have been no wolves
brothers.				in Britain for 300 years. The last one was
				probably killed at Helmsdale, some 40 miles
What is man without the beasts?				north of where I live in the Scottish
				Highlands.That the Vikings had a respect for
If all the beasts were gone,				the strength and sagacity of wolves is
				evidenced by the names given to ancient
Man would die from a great loneliness of				Nordic kings - Beowulf, Beadowulf, Wulfstan,
spirit.				etc. Even ealier is the legend of Romulus and
				Remus. The twins were found abandoned on the
For whatever happens to the beasts,				banks of the Tiber by a she-wolf, who fed
				them with her milk. When they grew up,
also happens to the man.				Romulus built the city of Rome on the spot
				where the wolf had found them. Although no
All things are connected.				evidence to support the story has come down
				to us, there are plenty of authenticated
Chief Seattle				stories of similar incidents, including three
				from Lucknow in India dated from 1844, 1954
Speech of 1854Most people are now aware that				and 1976.One man who was centuries ahead of
we have some serious environmental issues				his time as a protector of animals was the
facing us in the next few decades. The recent				Italian priest who became the patron saint of
tsunami in Indonesia was a tragic reminder of				animals and the environment. Francis of
the fragile balance of nature. There is				Assisi was very much a lone voice, at one
nothing much we can do to stop these kind of				point pleading with the people of Gubbio to
events happening, except to install early				feed the notorious wolf which had been
warning systems. But global warming can be				ravaging their flocks. His insight was all
stopped or slowed down if and when we stop				the more profound considering the relentless
using fossil fuels and turn to renewable				cruelty with which 'Brother Wolf', as Saint
energy sources. The technology is being				Francis called him, has been persecuted in
developed or already exists; wind and wave				the past fifteen hundred years.In Anglo-Saxon
power, hydrogen fuel and nuclear fusion.What				times January was set aside especially for
can never be reversed if we let it happen is				hunting wolves. It was known as wolfmonat or
the loss of the diversity of life on our				wolf month. Medieval folk-lore is full of
small, green and blue planet. The list of				stories about devil-wolves with dripping jaws
endangered species is growing all the time.				and evil, slitty eyes. There are woodcuts of
Environmental awareness has been a long time				wolves with cloven hooves, carrying off
coming. In a way we are the victims of our				little children, and there are children's
own success, at least in the West. Population				stories like Little Red Riding Hood and the
growth makes it ever more difficult to				Big Bad Wolf, and various tales about
preserve the wilderness areas which are so				were-wolves.
necessary for the survival of wildlife.When I
was a boy in Scotland, I was fond of				The subject of all these stories must indeed
everything that was wild...				be a ferocious animal, but in fact there is
				no authenticated instance of anyone being
I loved to wander in the fields to hear the				attacked by a wolf. I don't say it couldn't
birds sing,				happen; I just say you're more likely to be
				struck by lightning.That it is possible for
and along the shore to gaze and wonder at				people and wolves to live in the same world
the shells and the seaweeds,				has been demonstrated by the various wolf
				programs on-going in north-west Montana, the
eels and crabs in the pools when the tide				Yellowstone area, Central Idaho and North
was low;				Carolina. There is also a scheme, backed by
				Greenpeace and various politicians to
and best of all to watch the waves in awful				re-instate the wolf in certain areas of the
storms thundering				Scottish Highlands. In the U.S. ranchers are
				being re-imbursed for any livestock losses -
on the black headlands and craggy ruins of				which are surprisingly light - by an
old Dunbar Castle.				organisation called Defenders of Wildlife.
				This is what they say on their website:'Some
John MuirThe first modern environmentalists,				of the nation's most prominent biologists
in a general way, were probably Ralph Waldo				have estimated that protecting habitat for
Emerson and Henry Thoreau, but the man who				wide-ranging preditors such as wolves will
made a deep and practical impact was a Scot				conserve 90% or more of overall biological
named John Muir. He was born in 1838 in				diversity. Because wolves can require home
Dunbar, not very far from where I was born,				ranges of several hundred square miles, their
and he left Scotland for California at the				conservation can help to preserve a host of
age of twenty-eight. He called himself a				other species making use of the same
'poetico-trampo-geologist-botanist and				habitat.'It was the 'Defenders' organisation
ornithologist-naturalist'. Today he is known				which led the successful fight to restore the
as the father of America's national parks. On				gray wolf to it's former habitat in
August 5th, 2004, former President Bill				Yellowstone Park, and they are currently
Clinton said of him, "One of the Americans				battling against recent legislation in Alaska
who inspired Theodore Roosevelt to conserve				to allow the 'hunting' of wolves from light
our national forests was the naturalist John				aircraft and snowmobiles. This degrading and
Muir, who once said, 'Everybody needs beauty				inhumane practice was banned in 1972 until
as well as bread - places to play in and pray				last year, and ignores the weight of
in, where nature may heal and give strength				scientific thinking. It has received
to body and soul'. In today's fast-paced,				widespread public opposition. Alaskans have
high-tech world, Muir's words are even more				voted against aircraft assisted wolf hunting
compelling".Another influential writer was				twice; in 1996 and 2000.Killing wild wolves
Henry Beston. In 1928, after spending a year				is supposed to boost the numbers of caribou
in a small wooden house on the Great Outer				and moose for the benefit of hunters, but
Beach of Cape Cod, he wrote an inspiring				biologists say that the larger prey species
little book called 'The Outermost House',				elude wolves 97% of the time, and that by
which contained the following passage:We need				eliminating sick and old animals, predation
another and a wiser and perhaps a more				actually strengthens the gene pool.Richard
mystical concept of animals. Remote from				Fiennes, the distinguished U.K. scientist and
universal nature, and living by complicated				biologist has summed up the case for the wolf
artifice, man in civilization surveys the				as follows:The wolf appears to retain a
creature through the glass of his knowledge				respect for human beings, and is reluctant to
and sees thereby a feather magnified and the				attack them. Not so man, who now fears and
whole image in distortion. We patronize them				abominates the wolf and does all in his power
for their incompleteness, for their tragic				to destroy him. Alas, he fails to recognize
fate of having taken form so far below				in the wolf's descendants, whom he has
ourselves.And therein we err, and greatly				domesticated, the great virtues and loveable
err. For the animal shall not be measured by				characters of the ancestral wolf. If wolves
man. In a world older and more complete than				must become extinct in some areas, let us yet
ours they move finished and complete, gifted				give what honour is due to him where we can.
with extensions of the senses we have lost or
never attained, living by voices we shall				The old traditions of this gentle creature's
never hear.They are not brethren, they are				savagery and ferocity linger on, and man's
not underlings; they are other nations,				hand is against him, even when he does no
caught with ourselves in the net of life and				harm. There are still enormous regions of the
time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and				world, in America and Russia, where he can be
travail of the earth.				left unmolested; let him so remain.

The Outermost House				The Order of Wolves

Henry Beston My own special interest is the				Richard FiennesWhen I look at my dogs, I see
wolf, that most misunderstood of all animals.				a wolf,
Down the ages wolves have been the subject of
much fear, hatred and mis-information and				and when I look at a wolf, I see my dogs.
yet, of all the larger predators it is the
least harmful to people. In a way, we know				James Donaldson CollinsJames Donaldson
more about the character of wolves than we do				Collins is an artist and writer. He lives in
about our closest relatives - the great apes				the Scottish Highlands with his wife,
- because their descendants are all around				daughter and three dogs. His paintings of
us, lolling about in front of the fire, or				wolves, dogs and other animals can be seen on
digging holes in the garden.And yet the wolf				his portraits website.
has been hunted and persecuted almost to the

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A Great Loneliness